Struck in crosswalk, she may become advocate for pedestrians

Annemarie Provisero was struck by a car at this intersection of Dean Road and Buck Road about 2 blocks from her house as she was walking to the drug store.

George Skene/Orlando Sentinel

George Skene/Orlando Sentinel

Annemarie Provisero recalls every detail of the crash.

She can point exactly to where she left blood streaks on the pavement of Dean Road.

She knows exactly where her broken body lay in the crosswalk after she was struck by a neighbor's car at the intersection of Buck Road the afternoon of Nov. 1, 2011.

Provisero, now 44, landed about 15 feet from where she had been standing. Her legs were broken and her head split open after it bounced against the ground. The woman who had hit her held Provisero's broken skull in her hands until emergency responders arrived.

She remembers exactly what she was thinking: "OK, everything is about to change. I'm not sure how, but here we go."

Remembering the pain, the fear and the shock has been vital to her recovery, she said.

It has taken 18 months of surgeries, physical therapy, a stint in a nursing home and soul-searching for Provisero to be able to walk back to the spot in east Orange County where she was run down just a few minutes from her home.

Despite the agony, Provisero — a certified life coach — is trained to recognize the gleam of a silver lining.

She doesn't blame the driver, Meredith M. McIntyre, now 46, who received a ticket for careless driving. Provisero blames the region's culture of negligent driving that has made the area one of the deadliest in the country for people who walk. Becoming a voice for Orlando's pedestrians is a path Provisero is considering as she continues her recuperation.

"What's two seconds of inattention for you is a lifetime for somebody else," said Provisero, who wants local officials and engineers to find solutions to protect pedestrians. "How much would it cost you in time to sit at a red light versus what it's going to cost somebody that you damage for the rest of their life?"